The College of the Neophytes, in Italian Collegio dei Neofiti (Latin ''Collegium Ecclesiasticum Adolescentium Neophytorum'' or ''Pia Domus Neophytorum'') was a Roman Catholic college in Rome founded in 1577 by
Gregory XIII
Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...
for education of young men, in an institution for converts from Judaism and Islam that itself been started in 1543 by Pope Paul III.
Neophyte
A neophyte is a recent initiate or convert to a subject or belief.
Neophyte may also refer to:
Science
* Neophyte (botany), a plant species recently introduced to an area
As a proper noun Arts and entertainment
* Neophyte, a character class ...
in this context generally means converts from Judaism, and ''neofito'' was often appended to Italian surnames to indicate a convert. From 1634 the College was adjacent to the church of
Santa Maria ai Monti
Santa Maria dei Monti (also known as Madonna dei Monti or Santa Maria ai Monti) is a cardinalatial titular church, located at 41 Via della Madonna dei Monti, at the intersection with Via dei Serpenti, in the rione Monti (rione of Rome), Monti of ...
.
The first head of the ''Collegio dei Neofiti'' was
Giulio Antonio Santoro
Giulio Antonio Santoro (1580 – 28 September 1638) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Cosenza (1624–1638).
(1532–1602), a powerful and authoritative supporter of Gregory XIII, and judge of the
Holy Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
. The purpose of the Collegio, in the plan of the Inquisition, was to train the ''neofiti'', or "new Christians," to convert their fellows.
Antonio Barberini
Antonio Barberini (5 August 1607 – 3 August 1671) was an Italian Catholic cardinal, Archbishop of Reims, military leader, patron of the arts and a prominent member of the House of Barberini. As one of the cardinal-nephews of Pope Urban VIII ...
, brother of
Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII ( la, Urbanus VIII; it, Urbano VIII; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death in July 1644. As p ...
, had constructed a new building, the ''Palazzo dei Neofiti,'' for the college. Barberini also had the last catechumens from S. Giovanni transferred to the new institution. Notable teachers at the college during this period included
Giulio Bartolocci Giulio Bartolocci (1 April 1613 – 19 October 1687) was an Italian Cistercian Hebrew scholar and author of the four volume ''Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica.''
Life
He was born at Celleno and became the a pupil of a baptized Jew, Giovanni Battist ...
(1613–1687) a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...
Hebraist, and author of the ''Bibliotheca Magna Rabbinica'' or "Great Rabbinical Library."
From 1713 the Collegio was allocated away from its original purpose of training missionaries to become a charitable institution, under the ''Pii Operai,'' or "Holy Workers." It is from this period that the title ''Pia'' "Holy" is appended, though the title ''Pia'' was not always formally attached, and Papal bullae record subventions to the "poor of the House of the Neophytes." Like many charitable institutions music played a part in the education and life of the school but only two Latin graduation
cantata
A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir.
The meaning o ...
s survive from the 17th Century.
The college closed in 1886, and is now mainly remembered for having given its name to
Targum Neofiti
Targum Neofiti (or Targum Neophyti) is the largest of the Western Targumim on the Torah, or Palestinian Targumim. The extant copy consists of 450 folios covering all books of the Torah, with only a few damaged verses.
More than a mere Aramaic tra ...
, when that manuscript passed to the
Vatican Library
The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...